Oscillator arrangement, method, computer program and communication device

Abstract

A reference oscillator arrangement is provided for a communication apparatus capable of communicating according to a plurality of transport formats. The reference oscillator arrangement comprises a reference oscillator controller; a resonator core comprising a reference resonator and a driving circuit for the reference resonator, wherein the resonator core is arranged to provide an oscillating signal at a frequency of the reference resonator; and a reference oscillator buffer arrangement, connected to the resonator core, comprising an active circuit arranged to provide a reference oscillator output based on the oscillating signal. The reference oscillator controller is arranged to receive information about an applied transport format and control the driving circuit and/or the active circuit based on the information about the applied transport format. An oscillator arrangement, a communication device, methods therefor and a computer program are also disclosed.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A reference oscillator arrangement, for a communication apparatus capable of communicating according to a plurality of transport formats, the reference oscillator arrangement comprising:
 a reference oscillator controller; 
 a resonator core comprising a reference resonator and a driving circuit for the reference resonator, wherein the resonator core is configured to provide an oscillating signal at a frequency of the reference resonator; 
 a reference oscillator buffer arrangement connected to the resonator core, the reference oscillator buffer arrangement comprising an active circuit configured to provide a reference oscillator output based on the oscillating signal; and 
 wherein the reference oscillator controller is configured to:
 receive information about an applied transport format, wherein the applied transport format is an applied format for transmission of information which both the transmitter at a transmitting side and a receiver at a receiving side use; and 
 control the driving circuit and/or the active circuit based on the information about the applied transport format. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The reference oscillator arrangement of  claim 1 , wherein the reference resonator is a crystal resonator or a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) resonator. 
     
     
       3. The reference oscillator arrangement of  claim 1 , wherein the reference oscillator controller is configured to perform the control by controlling bias of the driving circuit and/or the active circuit. 
     
     
       4. The reference oscillator arrangement of  claim 1 , wherein the reference oscillator buffer arrangement comprises a plurality of buffers for providing output signals to different circuits of the communication apparatus, each buffer comprising an active circuit, wherein the active circuits of at least a set of the buffers are individually controllable. 
     
     
       5. The reference oscillator arrangement of  claim 1 , wherein the reference oscillator controller comprises a look-up table configured to map transport formats to control settings of the driving circuit and/or the active circuit. 
     
     
       6. The reference oscillator arrangement of  claim 1 , wherein the reference oscillator controller is configured to control by adjusting the driving circuit once for a transmission burst of the communication apparatus. 
     
     
       7. The reference oscillator arrangement of  claim 1 , wherein the reference oscillator controller is configured to control by adjusting the active circuit at a plurality of instances during a transmission burst of the communication apparatus. 
     
     
       8. The reference oscillator arrangement of  claim 1 , wherein the applied transport format is related to communications over a wireless channel. 
     
     
       9. An oscillator arrangement, for a communication apparatus capable of communicating according to a plurality of transport formats, the oscillator arrangement comprising:
 a reference oscillator arrangement, the reference oscillator arrangement comprising:
 a reference oscillator controller; 
 a resonator core comprising a reference resonator and a driving circuit for the reference resonator, wherein the resonator core is configured to provide an oscillating signal at a frequency of the reference resonator; 
 a reference oscillator buffer arrangement connected to the resonator core, the reference oscillator buffer arrangement comprising an active circuit configured to provide a reference oscillator output based on the oscillating signal; 
 wherein the reference oscillator controller is configured to:
 receive information about an applied transport format, wherein the applied transport format is an applied format for transmission of information which both the transmitter at a transmitting side and a receiver at a receiving side use; and 
 control the driving circuit and/or the active circuit based on the information about the applied transport format; and 
 
 wherein the reference oscillator arrangement is capable of adjusting phase noise of the generated reference oscillator output; and 
 
 a phase-locked loop circuit comprising a phase detector configured to receive an output signal from the reference oscillator arrangement. 
 
     
     
       10. The oscillator arrangement of  claim 9 , wherein the phase-locked loop circuit is configured to adjust a loop bandwidth of a phase-locked loop thereof such that:
 an increase in phase noise of the generated reference oscillator output implies a decrease in loop bandwidth; and 
 a decrease in phase noise of the generated reference oscillator output implies an increase in loop bandwidth. 
 
     
     
       11. The oscillator arrangement of  claim 9 :
 wherein the phase-locked loop circuit further comprises a controlled oscillator which is configured to:
 provide an oscillator signal based on a filtered output from the phase detector; and 
 receive different settings from the reference oscillator controller for providing different levels of phase noise such that:
 an increase in phase noise of the generated reference oscillator output implies an increase in phase noise of the controlled oscillator; and 
 a decrease in phase noise of the generated reference oscillator output causes a decrease in phase noise of the controlled oscillator. 
 
 
 
     
     
       12. The oscillator arrangement of  claim 9 , wherein the reference oscillator arrangement is configured to be controlled such that:
 a decrease in a loop bandwidth of a phase-locked loop of the phase-locked loop circuit implies an increase in phase noise of the generated reference oscillator output; and 
 an increase in the loop bandwidth implies a decrease in phase noise of the generated reference oscillator output. 
 
     
     
       13. A method of controlling an oscillator arrangement for a communication apparatus capable of communicating according to a plurality of transport formats, wherein the method comprises:
 providing an oscillating signal at a frequency of a reference resonator of a resonator core, the resonator core comprising the reference resonator and a driving circuit for the reference resonator; 
 providing, by a reference oscillator buffer arrangement connected to the resonator core, a reference oscillator output based on the oscillating signal; the reference oscillator buffer arrangement comprising an active circuit configured to provide reference oscillator output based on the oscillating signal; 
 receiving information about an applied transport format, wherein the applied transport format is an applied format for transmission of information which both the transmitter at a transmitting side and a receiver at a receiving side use; and 
 controlling the driving circuit and/or the active circuit based on the information about the applied transport format. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the controlling comprises controlling bias of the driving circuit and/or the active circuit. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 13 :
 wherein the reference oscillator buffer arrangement comprises a plurality of buffers for providing output signals to different circuits of the communication apparatus, each buffer comprising an active circuit; and 
 wherein the method comprises controlling active circuits of at least a set of the buffers individually. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising controlling settings of the driving circuit and/or the active circuit by mapping transport formats to control settings from a look-up table. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising controlling the driving circuit to adjust once for a transmission burst of the communication apparatus. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising controlling the active circuit to adjust at a plurality of instances during a transmission burst of the communication apparatus. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 13 :
 wherein the oscillator arrangement further comprises a phase-locked loop circuit comprising a phase detector configured to receive an output signal from a reference oscillator arrangement; and 
 wherein the method further comprises adjusting a loop bandwidth of a phase-locked loop of the phase-locked loop circuit such that:
 an increase in phase noise of the generated reference oscillator output implies a decrease in loop bandwidth; and 
 a decrease in phase noise of the generated reference oscillator output implies an increase in loop bandwidth. 
 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claims 13 :
 wherein the oscillator arrangement comprises a phase-locked loop circuit comprising a phase detector configured to receive an output signal from a reference oscillator arrangement; 
 wherein the phase-locked loop circuit comprises a controlled oscillator which is configured to provide an oscillator signal based on a filtered output from the phase detector; 
 wherein the controlled oscillator is configured to receive different settings from the reference oscillator controller for providing different levels of phase noise; and 
 wherein the method further comprises controlling the controlled oscillator such that:
 an increase in phase noise of the generated reference oscillator output implies an increase in phase noise of the controlled oscillator; and 
 a decrease in phase noise of the generated reference oscillator output implies a decrease in phase noise of the controlled oscillator. 
 
 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 13 :
 wherein the oscillator arrangement comprises a phase-locked loop circuit and a reference oscillator arrangement; 
 wherein the reference oscillator arrangement comprises the reference resonator core and the reference buffer arrangement; and 
 wherein the method comprises controlling the reference oscillator arrangement such that:
 an increase in a loop bandwidth of the phase-locked loop circuit implies a decrease in phase noise of the generated reference oscillator output; and 
 a decrease in the loop bandwidth implies an increase in phase noise of the generated reference oscillator output. 
 
 
     
     
       22. A communication device for operating with a radio access network and capable of communicating according to a plurality of transport formats, the communication device comprising:
 a transceiver configured to transmit or receive one or more data messages over a wireless channel; and 
 a reference oscillator arrangement, the reference oscillator arrangement comprising:
 a reference oscillator controller; 
 a resonator core comprising a reference resonator and a driving circuit for the reference resonator, wherein the resonator core is configured to provide an oscillating signal at a frequency of the reference resonator; 
 a reference oscillator buffer arrangement connected to the resonator core, the reference oscillator buffer arrangement comprising an active circuit configured to provide a reference oscillator output based on the oscillating signal; and 
 wherein the reference oscillator controller is configured to:
 receive information about an applied transport format, wherein the applied transport format is an applied format for transmission of information which both the transmitter at a transmitting side and a receiver at a receiving side use; and 
 control the driving circuit and/or the active circuit based on the information about the applied transport format.